Report on the issue of Racism and Hate Speech in Japan prepared and submited by: the Committee on the Protection of Human Rights of the Central Head Office of the Korean Residents Union in Japan date: July.18.2014. information: 1-7-32, Minami-azabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan mail:
[email protected] TEL :+81-3-3454-4711 FAX :+81-3-3454-4715 1 I An Introduction to Mindan (Korean Residents Union) This Report will explain the role of the Korean Residents Union in Japan ('Mindan'), the authoring institution of this Report, in helping to raise awareness of the victimization of Korean residents in Japan, the primary targets of an epidemic of racism and hate speech in Japanese society. This Report will also provide Mindan's perspective on the current human rights violations of Korean residents in Japan through hate speech. 1. Outline Mindan was founded in October 1946 as an autonomous organization for Korean residents in Japan who were coercively or semi-coercively brought to Japan due to the Japanese colonial rule of Korea and the wartime policies of the Japanese government, and were unable to return to Korea after WWII. Mindan is a community of Korean residents in Japan that has had a hard-won history acting as both a regional residents' organization to confront the administrative and social discrimination against Korean residents in Japan, while also protecting their rights and interests, and acting as a social movement mobilizing point to eradicate every kind of discrimination. Currently, there are 520,000 Korean residents in Japan, and among them 370,000 have resided in Japan since before WWII or are their descendants three to four generations removed.